


(In)significant Gestures

by ownedbyacat



Series: Rise as One [2]
Category: DBSK | Tohoshinki | TVfXQ | TVXQ
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Gen, M/M, enlistment!fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-21
Updated: 2015-07-21
Packaged: 2018-04-10 13:11:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4393223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ownedbyacat/pseuds/ownedbyacat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The last few days before Yunho enlists. One last dinner and one more chance for Yunho to surprise his partner.</p>
            </blockquote>





	(In)significant Gestures

**Author's Note:**

>  
> 
> [Based on this update](http://tvxqexpress.com/2015/07/10/infopic-150709-tvxq-new-goods-at-sum-japan-store-including-yunhos-necklace/#more-6360) and on the fan accounts that Changmin was wearing Yunho's stage outfit during the Tokyo SMTown Concert.  
> And yes, I've borrowed the three tags from Jack & Gareth's first Valentine's Day.

Changmin stared at the paper in his hands, reading one small part of the article over and over, not sure whether he wanted the words to change or not.

_Unwavering love, even if we're apart from each other._

Changmin hadn't known. He really hadn't. He'd known about Yunho's jewellery project, of course, but hadn't enquired too closely into the details. He just wasn't one for offstage bling. And Yunho knew that and hadn't said much about it.

He let their manager's grumpy voice wash over him, and tried to nod in the right places to indicate he was paying attention when nothing could be further from the truth. Damage limitation. He hated that phrase. How much damage could be caused by one short line in a lengthy interview?

An awful lot. He knew that. But it didn't bother him. Not as it would have done before.

Yunho had managed to surprise him… and wasn't that annoying?

It wasn't the way things were supposed to be between them. Yunho was supposed to be the oblivious one in their partnership, the one who needed things spelled out for him to see them. Yunho who - given the choice - would go for the shiny every single time, had literally caught Changmin unawares.

And that stung. Because it caught Changmin completely unprepared.

***

"Gods, are my ears still attached?" Changmin queried once he'd greeted Yunho and settled beside him at the secluded table. His filming schedule was tight, but nobody had said a word when he'd asked for an evening off to have dinner with Yunho.

Instead they'd also cleared his schedule for the morning of Yunho's enlistment day, so he could join Yunho's family and see him to the gate.

He tried not to think about that one.

Yunho could tell and immediately picked up where Changmin had left off. "What's wrong with your ears?"

"Had them chewed off by manager-hyung all the way over here," he said, reaching for the soju bottle and pouring a generous measure into Yunho's glass. He had to watch that. There was nothing he wanted more than a spot of oblivion, but he was due on set extra early to make up for his night out.

"Why? What did you do?"

"What did I do?" Changmin sputtered. "You, you jackass! That whole endless lecture was all your fault. Don't you realise how obvious you've been with that interview?"

"And you weren't?"

"What?"

Yunho laughed, as unconcerned with Changmin's criticism as he'd not been in a long time. It made it so much more obvious that he was leaving, that he wouldn't have to worry about managers and appearances. That he would leave Changmin to deal with the fallout when there was nothing Changmin wanted to do less than deny how close they were.

"When have I ever been obvious?" he snarled, startling the server who placed trays of meat and vegetables and small dishes of dipping sauce on their table. "Tell me, Yunho!"

"Do I need to remind you who took my costume to the SMTown concert instead of his, so I could be there with him?"

Changmin blushed a deep red. "That was fan service. A totally insignificant gesture."

"Yeah? Well, so is this. They're willing to wait for us to come back. I'm giving them something to hold onto."

"You're a sap, Jung Yunho."

Yunho merely smiled and they ate in silence until the conversation turned to other, less fraught topics.

"So… where's mine?" Changmin queried eventually, when the food was gone and only bottles of soju were left on the table between them. He didn't need to ask if Yunho had a pendant made for him. He just needed to know where it was.

"In your laptop bag. I had manager-hyung sneak it in."

"What? So when he was laying into me all through the drive he—"

"Yep. He'd make a good actor, don't you think?"

"I'm gonna kick his ass."

"Don't. I'd rather see you angry than sad, Min."

And just that quickly the whole sorry mess came crashing down around Changmin's ears. It was a damned good thing the restaurant was quiet and they'd been given a very private corner for their farewell dinner. They both needed it.

***

Later that night Changmin sat for the longest time, staring at the little box on his coffee table. If he ignored it, if he pretended it didn't exist, would that make Yunho's imminent departure less real? Or would it simply make his own desolation that much worse?

He had no idea. And he'd never been that patient anyway. Just as he'd never been a coward.

He set his beer down and drew a deep breath for courage. If his eyes prickled a little as he picked up the velvet case… who was there to see and judge him?

The inside of the case was deep green velvet, so soft it reminded Changmin of fluffy blankets and curling up on the sofa at the end of a long day of rehearsals, too exhausted to even make it to bed. It reminded him of one of Yunho's shirts, the one that set Yunho's face to glow and brought out the chocolate highlights in his hair.

Hair. Shit. By now Yunho's gorgeous hair would be history. No last chance for Changmin to run his fingers through the silky strands and tease the wayward locks back into order. He knew he couldn't have faced watching that mutilation and he was eternally grateful to BoA for taking his place. Even while he'd begrudged her the time she got to spend with Yunho.

"Fuck, I'm a mess."

The plea was heartfelt and choked with the tears he was determined to hold back in public. What was he going to do without Yunho to take care of? Maybe he should adopt a couple of kids. He could just imagine Yunho's face when he told him.

The thought made him smile. He breathed, sniffled a little and finally opened the velvet case with a deep sigh.

His pendant wasn't like anyone else's.

Changmin had known that much before he opened the case. There were no flashy crystals to draw attention. Just a thin chain and three slim tags in the bronze, silver and gold that had signified yesterday, today and tomorrow to them for as long as they'd been together. Yunho's name and birth date was stamped on the bronze tag. Changmin's details were engraved on the silver tag.

The gold one choked him up.

 _2017_ it read on one side.

 _WE RISE AS ONE_ \- on the other.

"Idiot. Stupid, sappy idiot," Changmin croaked out. He clearly remembered the pursed lips and disapproving look of his partner when he had insisted - almost to the point of throwing a tantrum - on having _Rise as One_ as his solo track on the album, rather than the rock number their management had wanted to include.

Yunho had known all along why he'd wanted a dance track instead of a dreamy ballad. Defiance was the game, shutting himself away from hurt - and Changmin played it perfectly. As perfectly as Yunho had seen through his facade.

He had the phone to his ear before he thought.

"It wasn't, was it? Fan service," he said the moment Yunho answered.

"It really took you that long to figure it out?" Yunho didn't miss a beat. "Really, Min-ah, are you well?"

"Lonely is what I am. Heartsick is what I am," Changmin snarled, done with keeping the important things to himself. "Because I'm missing this idiotic big lug who's supposed to be my partner. I'm missing him and he's not even fucking left yet."

"Yeah, I know what that feels like." There was less noise on the line now, Yunho having clearly stepped away from the people he was spending the evening with. "I'm missing you too, Min. Which is why I had two pendants made. A reminder that we're always together, even when we're not. A reminder of who we are even if we forget."

Changmin took three seconds to picture a future in which he wouldn't remember Yunho. Then he dismissed it.

He took four more seconds to listen to Yunho breathe on the other end of the line. The driving beat of _We Rise as One_ started up in the back of his mind and he straightened his spine until he stood tall and proud, every inch the idol he was. "Shut up, Jung," he breathed into his phone. "Enjoy your day. I'll see you at the gate."


End file.
